Multi-level flyovers in Hyderabad soon

Source: Deccan chronicle   21 Mar, 2015   

The multi-level grade separators (flyovers) proposed at five junctions surrounding KBR Park, Jubilee Hills, will be “steel composite constructions”, as they reduce 50 per cent of construction time. However, that entire project will cost 30 per cent more. The GHMC will be inviting global tenders after the MLC elections, probably in the first week of April. 

 

Unlike a flyover on which traffic flows in two directions, multi-level flyovers facilitate simultaneous traffic flow in several directions. In the first phase itself, the five multi-level flyovers will be taken up at a cost of Rs 380 crore.

 

The Jubilee Hills check-post grade separator will to be the longest and will be built at a cost of Rs 120 crore. Earlier, the GHMC had proposed six separators, but the one from Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer hospital to KBR Park was cancelled due to non-feasibility. The proposed flyovers at KBR Park Junction, Road Number 45, Jubilee Hills and Filmnagar road junction will have two levels, meaning two flyovers will crisscross each other and traffic will flow in different directions. The flyovers at Jubilee Hills check-post and Maharaja Agrasen Chowk, Road No 12, will have a single level with uni-directional traffic flow.

 

The GHMC will send the proposal for the “steel composite constructions” to the CM for approval following which tenders will be called. The cost of Rs 380 crore is excluding the land acquisition and it may change based on the work, said sources.  

 

As a part of the ‘Strategic Road Development Programme’ for Greater Hyderabad, 82 km of city roads will be taken up for development on priority basis in phase one, along with the multi-level grade separators. 

 

The road development project would cost Rs 1,605 crore. The aim of the SRDP is to come up with better road facilities that ensure that travelers move without having to halt or being stuck in traffic jams. In the first phase, the GHMC will focus on 10 major roads and junctions in key locations.  As a part of the Strategic Road Development Programme, the selected road stretches would be widened,  said the GHMC authorities. The road development includes improvement of road geometry, intersection improvements, pedestrian side-walks and crossing facilities, traffic signage, marking, traffic signals and utility ducts.

Puravankara Projects to invest Rs 170 cr in office complex in Hyderabad

Source: Economic Times         20 Mar, 2015

Realty firm Puravankara Projects LtdBSE -1.73 % will invest about Rs 170 crore over the next two years to develop an office complex in Hyderabad. 

Bangalore-based firm has entered into a joint development agreement with land owner to develop this 4-acre commercial project, that comprises 6 lakh sq ft of built-up area. 

"Buoyed by the successful sale of its commercial projects in Chennai and Bangalore, Puravankara is now launching Purva Summit, its Grade A Office Space in Hi-Tech City (Kondapur), in Hyderabad," Puravankara Projects said in a statement. 

In this project, Puravankara will sell as well as lease the office spaces. 

Under the sale model, the company has kept the starting price at about Rs 25 lakh for a 300 sq ft office space, enabling the retail customers to participate and invest in the commercial property market. It would lease the office spaces to large corporate tenants on behalf of the retail customers. 

In the first phase, Puravankara has got the Expressions of Interest (EOI) from potential buyers for double the area that it intends to sell. 

"The Real Estate sector in Hyderabad seems to have stabilised and we are likely to see an upsurge in transactions as well as commercial activity going forward. The low vacancy levels in Grade A office Space makes Hyderabad an attractive destination for investments into commercial properties," company's joint MD Ashish Puravankara said. 

According to sources, the total investment on construction of this project would be Rs 170 crore over the next two years and the same would be funded through internal accruals and sales realisation from this project. 

The company could achieve a sales realisation of about Rs 220 crore if it decides to sell its entire economic interest in the project, they said, adding that the company would retain some portion for leasing purposes. 

Puravankara Projects has presence in Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Mysore. It has 24.87 million sq ft of projects under development and additional 81.83 million sq ft in projected development over the next few years. 

Hyderabad is best city to live in India: Mercer's 'Quality of Living Report-2015'

Economic Times,  March 4, 2015

NEW DELHI: Leaving behind India's more traditional business centres such as Mumbai and Bangalore, the city of pearls Hyderabad is the best city to live in the country, says a global survey. 

According to consultancy firm Mercer's 'Quality of Living Report-2015', notwithstanding its top rank among Indian cities, Hyderabad globally ranks at 138th position in a list of 230 cities around the world in terms of standard of living. 

The list is topped by Vienna for the second consecutive year. 

Besides Hyderabad, the list figures seven other Indian cities -- Pune (145), Bangalore (146), Chennai (151), Mumbai (152), New Delhi (154) and Kolkata (160). 

"Over time, Hyderabad has emerged as a city of choice due to factors such as improved options for international schools and a fine choice of reputable English speaking schools," Mercer said. 

"Additionally, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is located 22 kms from the city and offers a good range of international flights, which improves its ranking on account of public services," it added. 

Mercer India Practice Leader (Global Mobility) Ruchika Pal said "considerable population increases in Mumbai and New Delhi, in the recent decades, have increased existing problems, including access to clean water, air pollution, and traffic congestion." 

Globally, Vienna is followed by Zurich, Auckland, Munich, Vancouver, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Copenhagen and Sydney, as the world's top 10 cities in terms of quality of living. 

Bangui ( Central African Republic) and Baghdad ( Iraq) were ranked as the bottom two cities on the list. 

Interestingly, the survey found that Indian cities are safer than most others in South Asia. 

While the ranking of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo is above Hyderabad at 132, Dhaka in Bangladesh is ranked 211 and Pakistan's Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi are ranked 191, 199 and 202, respectively. 

The parameters  taken into account for the survey include political and social environment, medical and health care, public services, recreation facilities and natural environment, among others. 

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46455517.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Hyderabad is best city to live in India: Mercer - Deccan Chronicle Hyderabad has best quality of living in India - Greatandhra.com Hyderabad ranks top in quality of living: Mercer - Hindu Business Line

Vistara spreads its wings to Hyderabad

Source: Deccan Chronicle   Dt: March 2, 2015

Hyderabad: The newly launched Full Service Carrier Vistara has spread its wings to Hyderabad beginning operations in the city. The Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines joint venture first flew from Hyderabad to New Delhi on Sunday morning. Airline officials said they will consider adding more flights to Hyderabad as the fleet grows. Hyderabad is currently the only South Indian city it operates from with a weekly frequency of 14 flights on one side. The first Vistara flight from Hyderabad to the national capital took off at 9.15 am with the chief executive officer Phee Teik Yeoh and chief commercial officer Giam Ming Toh on board.

“Hyderabad is the first South Indian city we are flying to. Unlike other cities, the Aviation Turbine Fuel prices here make it cost effective. We came to Hyderabad before other cities in the south,” Phee Teik Yeoh said. Asked if the city could see more flights from Vistara, he said, “Why not? You will hear from us on that. We are going to release our summer schedule soon.” But it might not be until October before Vistara expands its schedule in Hyderabad.

Giam Ming Toh said, “We are currently constrained by the size of our fleet. We have five aircrafts (Airbus A320) now and the number will increase to seven by September and hopefully nine by the end of the year. And there are the Route Dispersal Guidelines also. With Hyderabad we have added a metro city so now we will have to add a non-metro.”  Vistara which has international ambitions is vocal against the 5/20 rule. The central government is also considering scrapping the rule but officials say that it might not be entirely done away with but only modified. The rule mandates that an airline should complete five years of domestic operations and have at least a 20 strong fleet to be eligible for international operations.

“There are no Indian airlines flying to Malaysia or many other countries. Singapore Airlines alone operates more flights to the United States than all Indian airlines put together. You are not allowing your aviation to grow,” Ming Toh said.Teik Yeoh said that the government has also realized the rule must be scrapped. Though it suffered on the Passenger Load Factor, Vistara had the highest On Time Performance among all domestic carriers at 89 per cent. “We beat all other airlines. That is the kind of service we are looking at. PLF is just a number because if I reduce the fares to `500 then it will increase to 100 per cent automatically.”

Vistara says it is looking to compete in the airfare market but wants to exploit untapped potential. “We are the first airline to introduce premium economy class in the domestic aviation sector. We have 20 per cent lesser seats (148) than the maximum seats used by most airlines so it is more comfortable for the passenger,” he added.

Doubt over Hyderabad’s date with Metro

Deccan Chronicle   Dt: Feb 24, 2015

Hyderabad: The scheduled inauguration date for the Nagole to Mettuguda stretch of the Hyderabad Metro is March 21, but no one seems to know whether the deadline will be met.

Mr N.V.S. Reddy, managing director of Hyderabad Metro Rail, said, “I can’t comment on it. The state government has to decide on that.”

While Hyderabad Metro Rail is non-committal, works at the ground level are going on in full swing with Larsen & Toubro giving the final touches.

Mr V. B. Gadgil, managing director of Larsen & Toubro Hyderabad Metro Rail, said, “The project has works which are to be completed according to the schedule. We are following that.”
They are, however, mum on the subject of inauguration.

A senior officer of Hyderabad Metro Rail said, “The scheduled date to start on March 21, 2015, had been set long ago. So far, the government has not mentioned anything.

They are also silent on this aspect, which means that they too will follow the schedule. If there was any attempt to postpone the same there would have been some government orders. But so far, nothing has come which means that the ground people have to continue with their work.”

There are, meanwhile, too many things at stake. Another officer explained, “The railway safety clearance certificate has to come from the Centre and this requires to be expedited by the state government. At the same time, protocols have to be set in place, which would require proper planning. Lack of clarity has resulted in major confusion and also speculation.”

Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority to integrate various city master plans

Times of India     Feb 22, 2015 
Hyderabad:
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), which plays a key role in planning the development of the city, will soon begin the challenging task of integrating various master plans developed by different agencies in the past.

Several master plans have been prepared previously, for instance for the Cyberabad Development Area, by the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and the Hyderabad Airport Development Authority. All such plans need to be integrated to develop one master plan for the HMDA region, the in-charge metropolitan commissioner and special chief secretary, Dr K Pradeep Chandra, told TOI.

"Each of the existing master plans was prepared at a different time. The city has also grown and it is a larger area now. It is time to integrate the existing plans and develop a comprehensive master plan," he said.

Pradeep Chandra said that this time around, the master plan will also take into account other development initiatives of the state government, such as the Information Technology Investment Region and other industrial development plans, to ensure the creation of a true master plan for Hyderabad.

"The other issue we have seen in terms of practicability is that the plan does not reflect the ground reality. If we say this is for a road, then we sometimes find there are already buildings or it goes through a water body. We want to make sure that what has been planned is right. The idea of a master plan is that once it is made, it has to be a little rigid. Once it is made, you do not want to change anything. If you don't do it well, then there is always somebody who comes and says you did not look at this. That is something we do not want to do," he said.

But sometimes exceptions are inevitable. We cannot take away the rights of people and modifications have to be made depending on the circumstances. The effort is always to stick with the plan, but when the need arises, some changes can be implemented, he said.

To avoid potential problems with the new master plan, Pradeep Chandra said that every aspect of the land use plan will be first verified on the ground to ensure that the area being set aside for a particular purpose is actually suitable for the need. "We cannot force a residential area to give up their homes just because something fits well in a plan," he said.

The HMDA has already called for expression of interest from consultants for the development of the master plan. The authority is also taking up the transportation planning for the HMDA region. They are also working with the HMWS&SB to see how the overall water supply and sewerage plans for the HMDA area should be.

"As part of the transportation plan, we are looking at transit-oriented development that will need to be economically viable. There are some gaps in the ORR that need to be completed. We also need to look at the management of the ORR and ensure all systems are in place," Pradeep Chandra said.

Civic body plans 10 traffic corridors

Deccan Chronicle   Feb 4, 2015

Hyderabad: Ten major corridors in the twin cities are being taken up for concept development. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has projected to include footpaths, bicycle tracks, utility lanes, on-street parking (with planned parking strips), six-lane divided carriageways and medians with plants in these concept-based corridors. The total corridor length in Greater Hyderabad is 166 km. The longest corridor (44 km) is from Thukkuguda-Chandrayana Gutta-Charminar-Afzulgunj, Nampally-LakdikaPul- Khairatabad via Ameerpet up to BHEL. This is followed by Harihara Kala Bhavan, Sangeet, Uppal, LB nagar to Owaisi Hospital-Aramghar (22 km).

The project envisages each proposed corridor to have a standard of pedestrian facility, high quality signs, lighting systems, object delineators and markers, drainage systems, traffic control devices, utility ducts, street furniture and landscaping. “As per the project, all 166 km of corridors will be taken up for concept development with a total budget requirement of `3,320 crore in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. However it will be done in a phased manner. The corporation has completed survey for 10 corridors of 73.8 km and has submitted the same to the agency for concept planning.

The corporation will invite tenders and the project will take at least three years,” said a senior officer from the city planning section. The other corridors proposed to be developed in various phases include Retibowli to Aramghar (10km), Gachibowli to Hafeezpet (7 km), Narapally-Ghatkesar (7 km), Alwal-Suchitra- Kompally (16 km), Bowenpally to Kompally (12 km), Gachibowli- Patancheru via BHEL (17km), Tarnaka-Moula Ali, ECIL Cross roads to Dhamaiguda (11km), Masab Tank-Punjagutta- Begumpet-Harihara Kala Bhavan (10 km), NF-CL- KBR park entrance.